Entertainment

How (RED) United the Social Web in the Fight Against AIDS

Chances are, Product RED first came on your radar in 2006, when The Gap debuted its line of desi(RED), ado(RED) and inspi(RED) t-shirts.

The t-shirts were the start of a viral movement, which today is recognizable in distinctive digital campaigns and partnerships with some of the world's most popular brands, including Coca-Cola, Apple and Starbucks. Social campaigning has bolstered awareness for RED's iconic products, the profits from which have resulted in $190 million in donations toward the global fight against AIDS.

In the non-profit's short history, it has embraced what it means to be a distinctive brand in the social space. RED is the only non-profit with more than 1 million followers on both Twitter and Facebook, having more than 3 million followers on all platforms, including Foursquare, Instagram, Pinterest and Myspace.

"RED as a brand is all about innovation — it disrupted the whole notion of what corporate philanthropy consumer giving is all about," Chrysi Philalithes, RED's chief digital officer, told Mashable. "The fact we were born the same year as Twitter is no coincidence to the RED brand, and to the fact that digital is at our roots."

RED's Beginnings

RED was created to provide a sustainable flow of funding toward The Global Fund, the organization Kofi Annan started in 2002 to fund the fight against the spread of AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.

The aim was to drive private sector money toward The Global Fund, because governments from countries like the U.S. had been providing the vast majority of money during its first five years of existence. Rather than tackling all three diseases, RED chose to target AIDS specifically, as it's the number-one killer of women of reproductive age. To raise money, RED's founders decided to create a brand, represented in a family of high-quality products from the world's most iconic companies. (You can see some of the tech products in the below gallery.)

"When you make a RED choice, it's a self-identity thing, since consumers demand that their companies are doing good in the world," says Philalithes. "When I say I have the RED Mophie, it says I'm making a difference every way that I can. It's not just about me being aware with my purchase, RED's about spreading awareness to others."

RED's recent efforts have focused on the Millenium Development Goal of creating an AIDS-free generation by 2015. This could be achieved by ending the transmission of the fatal disease between mothers and their children.

World AIDS Day: A Social Holiday

Since 2009, RED has made its biggest splash of the year on World AIDS Day, celebrated Dec. 1, when it turns the social web red.

One Color Unites Us, the 2009 campaign, most strongly manifested on Twitter. Tweets containing the hashtag #red or #WorldAIDSDay would turn links, hashtags and usernames red. Celebrity influencers like Ashton Kutsher, Kim Kardashian, Shakira and Ryan Seacrest tweeted for World AIDS Day. Twitter even changed the color of its homepage. In addition to RED, World AIDS Day and HIV, and the campaign's name, One Color Unites Us, trended on Twitter.

"The fact that you could change the color of your tweet is incredible," says Philianthes. "The fact that you're doing it for a cause, as well, is like 'oh my goodness!'"

RED created six different iterations of Facebook downloadable profile pictures, and Facebook users could opt to turn their Facebook news feeds red. The non-profit gained 111 Twitter followers per minute and 148 Facebook fans per minute during World AIDS Day.

In 2010, RED focused on turning the world red, illuminating 90 landmarks around the globe, including the Sydney Opera House, Niagra Falls and the London Eye. To bring the theme of red places into the social space, RED focused on Foursquare, at the time one of the hottest new social networks. World AIDS Day check-ins earned RED badges.

"Every year we try to think how can we do things different than what we did the previous year," says Philalithes. "Given the association with the landmarks turning the world red, we wanted to turn the streets of the digital space red, so Foursquare was a really key partner for us in this."

RED created a map of the world, divided into regions, which turned darker shades of red as social activity increased. Working with Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare and Meetup, the RED map living on the organization's website turned red before the U.S. even woke up at 2:50 a.m. on Dec. 1. Participants made some 100,000 acts of support on the social web.

RED partnered with One in 2011 to create an HTML5 crowd-sourced digital quilt called (2015)QUILT, which featured images and messages of support from people across the web. The idea came from the AIDS Memorial Quilt, began in San Francisco in 1987, which grew to become the largest community art project in the world.

YouTube live streamed an event with Presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, along with celebrities Bono and Alicia Keys, calling for the beginning of the end of AIDS.

RED in the Digital Space the Rest of the Year

One of RED's most powerful projects was documentary film, The Lazarus Effect, which launched with an iPad app. The film follows a patient's transformation during the first 90 days of HIV treatment, with two pills, costing $0.40 per day.

The Lazarus Effect's free iPad app contained the full film, along with additional resources about antiretroviral drugs and photos of the 90-day transformation of HIV-positive people.

The film also launched a celebrity PSA about what you can buy for 40 cents; it has garnered more than 1 billion impressions.

During the 2010 World Cup, RED partnered with Yahoo to create a game, Yahoo Penalty Shootout, which donated $1 for each goal scored, up to $100,000. The game quickly met its goal with players from 15 countries.

RED Rush to Zero: The Latest Digital Push

RED's most recent digital campaign, RED Rush to Zero, includes three new efforts to drive money toward the Global Fund: the RED Rush Games, a global video gaming tournament; the RED Music program, which offers RED tickets to concerts featuring popular artists at major venues; and the Cash & Rocket RED Tour, a fundraising mission across Europe. RED Rush to Zero will take place June 1-10.

"The world is at a historic moment in the fight against HIV/AIDS, with the opportunity to end mother-to-child transmission of HIV and take a critical step toward defeating this global pandemic," said Deborah Dugan, CEO of RED. "RED Rush is a unique effort to build momentum and ensure that the incredible progress that has been made over the last decade continues."

The RED Rush Games partners with the world's largest gaming competition, E3, on June 1. Gamers will donate to the Global Fund to play games like FIFA 12 and NHL 12. Celebrities on board include Wayne Brady, Kris Allen, Kate Upton and Scott Porter. Converse, Mophie, Funny or Die and Bugaboo are among the brands offering prizes.

The RED Music program will turn concerts red by auctioning RED Row tickets online to a slew of major music names, including The Black Keys, Coldplay, Death Cab for Cutie, The Killers and Tim McGraw. Between June 1 and 10 famous venues, including Austin's Stubbs, Chicago's Metro and New York's Brooklyn Bowl, will donate a portion of their profits from certain concerts to the Global Fund.

Mashable
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